Commercial Revenues

REVENUES EARNED IN THE LOCAL AUTHORITES

The analysis of the Local Authories’ revenue performance revealed mixed results. Twelve Local Authories had increases over the 2012 – 2013 financial year whilst two (2) had a decrease as outlined in Table 1 below:

Responsibilities/Actions # 7 - Identify adequate and reliable sources for the funding of Local Government mandates and functions of Local Authorities

Local Authority

Revenue Earned
2013 - 2014

Kingston & St. Andrew Corporation

392,100,353.06

Clarendon

$57,218,371.83

Manchester

$99,910,451.00

St. Elizabeth

$57,135,003.44

Westmoreland

$55,066,009.59

Hanover

$33,979,755.70

St. James

$132,788,591.23

St. Ann

$133,141,230.00

Trelawny

$49,892,039.83

St. Mary

$46,607,125.09

Portland

$42,258,681.31

St. Thomas

$40,645,418.45

St. Catherine

$108,676,087.44

Portmore Municipality

$32,922,185.28

KSAC’s general revenue and self-financing activities totalled $392,100,353.06 which was more than what was collected in the prior 2012 – 2013 financial year ($361,833,865.70). Market Fees/Leases was the largest contributor to the KSAC’s revenue base for the 2013-2014 financial year.

Clarendon Parish Council’s general revenue and self-financing activities totalled $57,218,371.83, with Building and Subdivision Fees generating most of the revenues collected by the Council. This is an increase of $2,738,821.44 when compared to the prior year of $54,479,550.39.

Manchester Parish Council collected $99,910,451.00 in revenue which is a substantial improvement from last year’s amount of $58,876,493.18. Market Fees/Leases, Transportation Centre, Barbers & Hairdressers and Building & Subdivision Fees were the largest generator of revenues for this parish.

St. Elizabeth Parish Council collected $57,135,003.44 which reflects an increase when compared to the 2012–2013 financial year’s earnings of ($48,560,654.87). Building and Subdivision Fees contributed to most of revenues earned.

Westmoreland Parish Council earned $55,066,009.59 in revenue, which was more than the 2011-2012 financial year’s earnings of $44,042,005.63. The Council’s transportation centre generated most of the revenue for the reported period.

Hanover Parish Council collected $33,979,755.70 with the transportation centre and building & subdivision being the largest contributors of revenue to the parish.

St. James Parish Council’s revenue totalled $132,788,591.23 which was less than the amount collected in the 2012 – 2013 financial year which was $147,879,080.00. Building and subdivision fees were the highest contributor to the Council’s revenues.

St. Ann Parish Council reported that $133,141,230.00 was collected for the past financial year. Market fees, leases and building & subdivision fees accounted for the bulk of revenue collected.

Trelawny Parish Council collected $49,892,039.83 in revenues with building and subdivision fees being the highest contributor to the council’s collection activities.

St. Mary Parish Council reported that $46,607,125.09 was collected with building & subdivision being the largest contributor to this amount. The amount collected was more than the previous year’s amount of $44,036,325.52.

Portland Parish Council reported that $42,258,681.31 was collected with market fees, leases and building & subdivision being the largest contributors to revenue.

St. Thomas Parish Council collected $40,645,418.45 during the 2013-2014 period. This was more than the amount of $33,477,492.06 collected in the previous financial year. Market fees and leases were the largest contributors to that Council’s revenue.

St. Catherine Parish Council collected $108,676,087.44 in revenues which was substantially more than the amount of $36,889,195.68 collected during the prior period. Market fees, leases and building and subdivision fees made up the bulk of fees collected.

Portmore Municipal Council collected $32,922,185.28 in revenues during the reported period.

The LAs reported that revenues were earned from approximately 30 sources inclusive of: billboards & signs, cemeteries, market fees and leases, transportation centre, barbers & hairdressers, building & subdivision, trade licence, butcher’s licence, water rate, burial inspection, rental of premises, sale of water, arcade, parking fees, public amenities, parking fines, place of amusement, inspection fees, litter fines, numbering fees, encroachment, income from investment, metro/animal pound, shop fees and licences, vending fees/licence, billboard fines, Melrose Yam Park, slaughter houses, project management fees, and gated communities. It is noted that the above mentioned LAs’ revenue sources have increased by ten (10) when compared to the prior year which confirms that the authorities are identifying adequate and reliable sources of funding to support their functions as mentioned in the Medium Term Socio-Economic Policy Framework 2012-2015.

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF THE LOCAL AUTHORITES

Approximately $5,831,853,768.00 was received from property tax collection and $2,685,368,747.00 from motor vehicle licensing fees. For the 2013 - 2014 period, property tax collections increased by 48% over the corresponding period (2012 – 2013 collected $2,805,300,000.00), this represents $3,026,553,768.00. Collections for 2013 – 2014 financial year showed a difference of $1,428,146,232.00 between the actual and projected figures. The target for the period was $7.26 Billion, 80% of which was collected. The level of increased collections is attributed to the partnerships amongst the Ministry of Local Government & Community Development, the Local Authorities, Tax Administration Jamaica, Ministry of Finance and Planning and Fiscal Services Limited to ensure the achievement of the target. Amongst the measures adopted and implemented were:-

Local compliance measures organised by the local authorities and the local TAJ offices which involved outstation collections on week-ends in remote communities and housing schemes; door-to-door visits to delinquent property owners, town hall meetings and community fairs;

A focused public relations campaign undertaken at the national, regional and parish levels. The primary aim was to bring awareness of the benefits of paying property taxes and the use to which the property tax dollars are put by the respective local authorities.;

Active pursuit of delinquent property owners including court cases and where necessary, detention; and

Technological support to facilitate collections particularly in the remote collection areas and also to aid in the compliance efforts.

Motor vehicle licence collections for the reported period amounted to 2,298,296,731.79. This surpassed the projected collections by 387,072,015.21 and is comparatively more than the amount collected for the 2012-2013 financial year. The total disbursement from the Equalization Fund for the period April 2013 – March 2014 to the LAs was $503,971,475.74 for parochial road rehabilitation, infirmary and municipal infrastructure and other projects. This improvement in disbursement was due to the increased collections received from property tax and motor vehicle licensing.